If you have a name that can have multiple spellings, then this rant is for you. It can be your first name or your surname, but at some point in time, someone completely disregarded the time you took to explain that you have a different spelling or that your name begins with a different letter. And, more than likely, this has happened to you enough times to be reading this and shouting "YEAH!!" like a James Brown backup singer.
I get it. People make mistakes or 'assume' the spelling of your name and find themselves wrong. We have all done it at one time or another, but very few of us pay attention to our little gaff and make the effort to not perform the same mistake again.
(Author's note: I have put the word 'assume' in quotes because it is not a word within my vernacular. I have changed all usage of the word to presume and all derivatives, all conjugations and all varieties thereof, forthwith, henceforth, etc.. I absolutely refuse to allow someone to say to me "well, you know what happens when you assume?" because I will kick them in their nether region. Instead, by using presume, presumption, presuming, and so forth and whatnot, you disarm the would-be arrogant assailant from eliciting unnecessary harm upon themselves. Honestly, by removing all variations of assume from your vocabulary, you are saving the planet. Good job! There's a gold star in the mail for you.)
Mistakes happen, we forgive and most learn from them. Others however, choose to forget, ignore, or simply do not care.
My name is Cory. There is no 'e' in the name. It is not Corey, it is Cory. I often employ a little comedic mnemonic for people and say that I had the 'e' legally removed. Sometimes it sticks and they never forget that there is no 'e' in my name and the rest of the time, they either put the 'e' back in butcher my name further with two 'r's or terminally spelled my name with an "ie" on the end. And yes, you read that correctly, it was terminal for those that spelled my name Corie or Corrie. Those folks are no longer with us, but under the fifth amendment I claim I know nothing of their demise - I simply say "Carma" caught up with them.
When the error occurs and the 'e' shows up, I take a moment to cast a dramatic sigh and then go on with my day. However, the occurrences that press all of my anger issue buttons is when I get the 'e' in an email or, even worse, in a reply to an email.
I can understand the first time, and maybe the second time, but any subsequent email or reply to a chain of emails where someone leaves the 'e' in my name and I am ready to mail them a ticking package. When this occurs, I will often make the font size of my name a little larger, or make it bold and/or italic. I try to subtly let them know that they are misspelling my name.
What is more frustrating is that all of my email addresses have my first name in the address. Ever since the first name.last name paradigm was accepted, all of my email addresses have had my first name in it... and this goes back to at least April of 2005 when I grabbed my Google mail address. (For those of you attempting the math at home, it has almost been 12 years that I have been getting angry about this.)
So, I ask, what can we do? How do we make people more cognizant or less callous of name spelling? This is not a rhetorical question, I am honestly looking for answers that do not involve sledgehammers or other implements of destruction. Of course, I will not rule them out!
Thank you for your time, your patronage and your compassion.
